Pasteis de Nata

Combine sugar, water, cinnamon stick, lemon peel, and vanilla bean in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil without stirring and simmer for 3 minutes at 107 C (a light syrup). Remove from heat and steep for 10 minutes to allow the aromatics to infuse deeply. Discard the cinnamon, lemon peel, and vanilla pod — reserve the vanilla seeds if you scraped them in. Cool to room temperature.

Whisk together egg yolks and cornflour in a bowl until smooth. In a saucepan, combine milk, cream, and the cooled syrup. Bring to just below a simmer (small bubbles at the edge). Slowly pour the hot milk over the yolk mixture, whisking constantly. Return the whole mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until it just begins to thicken to a pourable custard — remove immediately. Strain through a fine sieve.

Roll puff pastry into a tight log, then slice into 12 equal discs about 1.5 cm thick. Press each disc into the base of a greased standard muffin tin, using your thumbs to work the pastry up the sides evenly — it should be thicker at the base than the sides, and the sides should come right to the top of the tin. The pastry will be thin and slightly translucent at the sides. Refrigerate for 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to its maximum temperature — ideally 250 C (480 F) or higher. Fill each chilled shell three-quarters full with custard. Bake on the highest rack for 13–17 minutes, watching carefully. You are chasing the classic dark amber leopard-spots across the surface — the tops will blister and char in places and the custard will wobble alarmingly. Pull when the tops are darkly blistered but the custard is still trembling. Cool for 10 minutes and dust with ground cinnamon.